THE OBER-AMMERGAU 
PASSION PLAY 

{Reprinted, by permission, from the "Times'') 



With some Introductory Remarks on the Origin an: 

Development of Miracle Plays, and some Practical 

Hints for the use of Intending Visitors 




by the 

Rev. MALCOLM MacCOLL, M.A. 



Fourth Edition, with a Xew Appendix/ giving a continuous description of the 
Scenes and Tableaux of the Play, in the order in which they take place. 



RIVINGTONS 
Hontton, <%forfc, an* Cambufa&e 

1871 



/ff/L 



DAYS ON WHICH THE PASSION PLAY IS TO BE 
ACTED IN 

1871. 



June 24. 








July 2 


9 


16 


25 


August 6 


14 


20 


27. 


September 3 


9 


17 


24 



If on any of these, days there are more visitors than the theatre 
will hold, the play is repeated on the following day. 

NAMES AND AGES OF THE PRINCIPAL 
DRAMA TIS PERSONS. 



Character. 


Name. 


Age. 


Christ . 


Joseph Mair 


26 


Peter 


Jacob Hett . 


60 


John 


Johannes Zwink . 


19 


Virgin Mary 


Franziska Flunger 


24 


Mary Magdalene . 


Josepha Lang 


26 


Herod . 


Franz Paul Lang . 


55 


Pilate . 


Tobias Flunger . 


• - 54 


Judas . 


Gregor Lechner . 


50 


Caiaphas 


Johann Lang 


35 


Annas . 


Gregor Stadler 


50 


Nathaniel 


Paul Froschl 


63 


Ezekiel . . 


Sebastian Deschler 


49 


Joseph of Arimathea 


Thomas Bendl 


3i 


Nicodemus 


Anton Haafer 


64 


Roman Centurion . 


Joseph Zwink 


48 


Barabbas 


Johann Allinger . 


56 


Choragus 


Johann Dimmer . 


40 


Principal Contralto Singe 


r Josepha Flunger . 
A 1 


22 



PREFACE 



THIRD EDITION. 

'THHOSE who intend to visit Ober-Ammergau 
this year will be glad to learn that the prin- 
cipal characters remain unchanged. A few of the 
actors in the subordinate parts, among them 
Simon of Cyrene, " have remained behind in 
France," as Madame George Lang euphemistically 
puts it in a letter which she has been good 
enough to write to me. Joseph Gutzjell, the con- 
ductor of the orchestra, and my kind host last 
year, has left the place ; but the villagers are very 
musical, and they have supplied his place without 
difficulty. 



6 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

In answer to numerous inquiries, I here subjoin 
a table of my expenses last year from London to 
Ober-Ammergau : — 

» £ s. d. 

London to Cologne, 2nd class, via Dover 

and Ostend . . . .290 

Extra for 1st class on board steamer .050 
Difference on 1st class from Verviers to 

Cologne . . ' ... . . . o 5 10 

Cologne to Bingen (steamer), 1st class .060 
Bingen to Nuremberg, 2nd class . . o 16 o 
Nuremberg to Munich, 2nd class . . o 1 1 o 
Munich to Weilheim, 2nd class . .026 
Weilheim to Ober-Ammergau, carriage 

and pair . , , . . .110 



£5 l6 4 
It will be observed, first, that this does not in- 
clude hotel expenses; secondly, that the journey 
was made all the way by second class, except on 
three occasions, when I travelled first class ; thirdly, 
that I went out of my way in going to Nuremberg. 
I have omitted also some extra expenses for lug- 



Preface. y 

gage, because they were quite unnecessary. Hotel 
expenses are, of course, a matter of taste ; but, if 
wines are dispensed with, six shillings a day will 
easily cover every thing. I hired a carriage from 
Weilheim to Ober-Ammergau ; but I might have 
made that part of the journey by omnibus for 
about three shillings. On the whole, I have no 
doubt that one may go to Ober-Ammergau by 
Cologne and Munich, and return within a fortnight, 
for £15. This would include all necessary expenses, 
and would enable the traveller to have a second- 
class ticket all the way to Ober-Ammergau and 
back. By taking the steamer from London to 
Antwerp, or Ostend, and travelling third class, I 
believe the trip could be made for £10, provided 
the traveller can speak German. But I would 
not advise any one to attempt it, even by the 
cheapest route, with less than £15 in his pocket. 

A through-ticket from London to Munich saves 
trouble ; but it is a mistake as regards expense. 
Let the traveller take his ticket from London to 
Ostend (if he goes that way), a second ticket from 



8 The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 

Ostend to Verviers, and a third from Verviers to 
Cologne, and he will save at least ten shillings 
between London and Cologne. 

I hope to see the Passion Play this year again 
myself ; and I have not the smallest fear that my 
second visit will mar the favourable impression of 
my first. 

London, May 24, 1871. 



INTRODUCTION. 

T T is a trite observation that the drama, both 
ancient and modern, had a religious origin. 
The Grecian mythology was the source, and fur- 
nished much of the materials, of the tragedy of 
Greece. In addition to that public worship of 
the gods in which there was nothing of mystery 
or concealment, there were, as every body knows, 
a variety of Mysteries in which only the initiated 
could share. In these Mysteries there does not 
appear to have been any exposition of doctrine 
or any course of oral instruction. It was not the 
intellect that was addressed, at least primarily and 
directly, but the bodily senses and the imagination. 
After the initiatory rites of lustration and sacri- 
fices, all the rest was an elaborate drama in which 
were represented the diversified adventures and 



io The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

various transformations of certain deities, with their 
relations — sometimes malign, sometimes beneficent 
■ — to the human race. This circumstance had an 
enduring influence on the subsequent drama of 
Greece, which retained to the end a semi-mythic 
character. The scene and characters are almost 
invariably laid in a remote past, and represent the 
results of actions rather than the actions them- 
selves. The heroes of the national legends are seen 
on the Greek stage, not struggling or scheming, 
vanquishing or being vanquished, but in still and 
solemn repose — in a state of misery or happiness, 
rather than on the way towards it. There is thus 
no development of character, no play of human 
passion ; and hence the use of the mask, which 
concealed the features of the actors, and gave to 
the face the appearance of preternatural impassive- 
ness ; hence also the liberal employment of tableaux 
vivants to illustrate and interpret the successive 
acts. Another reason for this characteristic of 
the Greek drama was, no doubt, the immense 
size of the ancient theatres. Any one who has 



Introduction. 1 1 

seen an old Greek theatre will understand the simple 
impossibility of any acting which required the visi- 
ble expression of human emotions. Every citizen 
had a right to a seat — generally to a free seat. 
The theatre of Syracuse, for example, which is still 
in tolerable preservation, is 467 feet in diameter, 
and contains 61 tiers of seats ; and any one who 
has looked across its vast depth will hardly con- 
sider 30,000 as an exaggerated estimate of the 
audience which it was capable of seating. No 
human organ could send articulated words across 
that space, and no play of features, however lively, 
could be seen by those who sat at the back of the 
theatre. Artificial means were therefore necessary, 
both to increase the size of the human figure and 
face, and to swell the volume of the human voice. 

The early Christian Apologists denounced the 
Greek Mysteries in the severest language. Clement 
of Alexandria, who took so favourable a view of 
Greek philosophy as a preparation for the Gospel, 
pronounces the sternest condemnation on the 
demoralizing influence of the Mysteries, into which 



12 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

he seems to intimate that he himself had been 
initiated before he became a Christian. But the 
early Christians were not satisfied with denouncing 
the impure Mysteries of Pagan mythology ; they 
did not rest content with driving out the evil spirit, 
leaving the house " empty, swept, and garnished." 
They took pains to show that they had mysteries 
of their own with which to tenant it, mysteries 
which were as purifying and ennobling as the 
heathen Mysteries were loathsome and degrading. 
And thus the Christian drama rose gradually on the 
ruins of the Greek theatre. A considerable dra- 
matic element enters into the composition of all 
the early Christian liturgies, and still more into 
the circumstances attending the celebration of the 
principal festivals of the Church. The eye was 
constantly appealed to, in order to deepen and 
confirm the impressions made by oral instruction 
on the understanding. And as soon as Christianity 
emerged from the Catacombs, and found itself in 
the enjoyment of freedom, it made a bolder and 
more direct attempt to enlist the sympathies of its 



Introduction. 13 

converts by means of dramatic representation. We 
find Greek tragedies on sacred subjects almost 
coeval with the establishment of Christianity, and 
there is direct evidence to their representation 
at Constantinople. One of these is the "Dying 
Christ " of St. Chrysostom, which was acted in 
Church, partly in tableaux vivants, and partly in 
dialogue. St. Gregory Nazianzen, too, and other 
early Christian writers, dramatized portions of Holy 
Scripture on the model of the ancient Greek plays. 
These religious plays made their way gradually 
from the East to the West. We have records of 
convent plays in Germany as early as the time of 
Charlemagne. But the religious drama does not 
appear to have taken firm root in the West till 
about the eleventh century, when a great impetus 
was evidently given to its popularity — probably by 
means of the Crusades, which introduced into 
Western Europe many of the customs of Eastern 
Christendom, and, among the rest, the passion for 
the scenical representation of religious subjects. In 
no country did the Miracle Plays attain an earlier 



14 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

popularity than in England. Matthew Paris tells 
us that a graduate of Paris, called Geoffrey, after- 
wards Abbot of St. Alban's, while teaching a school 
at Dunstable, caused the legend of St. Catherine 
to be acted in that town, Geoffrey himself, with 
some of his scholars, taking the principal parts in 
the play. This was in the beginning of the twelfth 
century, but no manuscript of the play has come 
down to us. The earlier of these religious dramas 
were all written in Latin, and as most of the 
spectators were unfamiliar with that language, it is 
probable that the play was acted chiefly by means 
of tableaux vivants and pantomime. The earliest 
Mystery Play which has come down to us in the 
English language is " The Harrowing of Hell." It 
belongs to the earlier part of the fourteenth century, 
and consists of a prologue, epilogue, and interme- 
diate dialogue. The principal dramatis persona are 
Dominus and Sathan, Adam and Eve. The best 
known, however, of the English Mystery Plays, and 
the most famous, are those called the "Chester 
Mysteries/' of which a good edition was published 



Ifitroduction. 15 

thirty years ago, by the Roxburgh Club. Warton 
refers them to the beginning of the fourteenth 
century, while Roscoe, on the other hand, denies 
them an earlier date than the beginning of the 
sixteenth century. The truth lies probably between 
the two, and we may feel tolerably safe in placing 
the origin of the Chester Mysteries at least as early 
as the beginning of the fifteenth century. They 
cannot be called, popular though they were, 
a favourable specimen of the religious drama. 
There is not much evidence of genius in any of 
them, and some of them belong to the lowest and 
coarsest type of comedy. Indeed, the Miracle 
Plays, especially in England, soon degenerated into 
buffoonery, and were frequently placed under the 
ban of the Church, as tending to bring sacred things 
into contempt. As early as 1360 we find Bishop 
Grandison of Exeter forbidding the acting of plays 
at Christmas 1 . But their popularity at Court and 
among the masses proved too strong for Episcopal 

1 See Mr. Prebendary Walcott's "Sacred Archaeology," 
p. 448. 



\6 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

censures. Edward III., in particular, was pas- 
sionately fond of these entertainments ; and Mr. 
William Longman, in his interesting and learned 
life of that monarch, gives the following inventory 
of articles used in a play performed at Guildford 
during the Christmas of 1347 : — 

" Eighty-four tunics of buckram of divers colours, 
forty- two vizards of divers forms, twenty-eight 
crests, fourteen painted cloaks, fourteen dragons' 
heads, fourteen white tunics, fourteen peacocks' 
heads with wings, fourteen tunics painted with 
peacock's eyes, fourteen swans' heads with their 
wings, fourteen tunics ornamented with stars of 
beaten gold and silver, fourteen likenesses of 
women's faces, fourteen likenesses of men's faces 
with beards, fourteen crests with mountains and 
conies, fourteen dragons' heads, twelve men's 
heads and as many elephants' heads, twelve men's 
heads with bats' wings, twelve wild men's heads, 
seventeen virgins' heads, five hoods of long white 
cloth, worked with blue men dancing, three har- 
nesses, two of which were of white velvet, worked 



Introduction. 1 7 

with blue garters, and diapered throughout with 
wild men ; and, for the king himself, a harness of 
white buckram, inlaid with silver, namely, a tunic 
and shield, with the king's motto, 'Hay, Hay, 
the Wythe Swan, by God's Soul I am thy man.' " 

Akin to the Mystery Plays were the Moralities. 
These were allegorical dramas in which abstract 
qualities were represented on the stage, and may 
be regarded as an intermediate link between the 
Mystery Plays and the modern drama. The repre- 
sentation of abstract qualities led by an easy pro- 
cess to the introduction of individual character, and 
to the representation of ordinary life and manners. 
In the violent struggles of the Reformation the 
stage was largely used by each side as a weapon 
of offence against the other. The marriage of 
Luther was satirized in a Latin Morality, which 
was acted in Gray's Inn, in the year 1529 2 . The 
Reformers were not slow to retaliate ; and so pro- 
fane and indecent did some of these representations 
become that we find them prohibited in Privy 
2 Hallam's Lit. of Europe, i. 439. 



i~8 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

Council ordinances under Henry VIIL, Edward 
VI., and Mary. From the time of Henry VIIL, 
especially, the Moralities were directed against the 
vices of the clergy, and of the monastic orders in 
particular ; and the popularity which these satires 
against clerical delinquencies acquired shows how 
rife the body of the people were for a reformation 
of the Church, at least in the matter of discipline. 
Collier, speaking of Henry VIII.'s prohibition of 
these plays, says,— 

"That nothing could be a greater profanation 
and abuse. These representations were made by 
some of the Gospellers. The subject of the enter- 
tainment was the immoralities and disorders of the 
monks and clergy ; they took the liberty likewise 
to ridicule their religious worship. The mob was 
pleased with these theatrical shows, in hopes, it 
may be, of being set free from discipline and re- 
straint. The clergy complained, as they had reason, 
against such licentious sport. This, they said, was 
the way to let in atheism, and make all religion 
a jest ; for if people were allowed to burlesque 



Introduction. 1 9 

devotion, and make themselves merry with the 
ceremonies of the Church, they would proceed to 
further extremities, and laugh the nation out of 
their creed at last. The judicious and better sort 
of reformers disliked these courses, but the politi- 
cians of that party countenanced this licence and 
made great use of it, and upon what motives they 
went is not difficult to discover 3 ." 

In the summer of 1549 a proclamation was is- 
sued against Miracle and Morality Plays, in which it 
is stated that "the arguments of these entertain- 
ments of the stage went upon seditious subjects, 
arraigned the government, and exposed the consti- 
tution to contempt ; that a great many tumults 
and disorders had been occasioned by this liberty ; 
that therefore, from the ninth of the present 
August (1549), till the Feast of All Saints next 
coming, no person was to act any stage performance 
in English in any part of the realm, on pain of im- 
prisonment and further punishment at the king's 
pleasure." 

3 Eccl. Hist. v. 92. 
B 2 



20 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

The Moralities and Miracle Plays, however, held 
their ground for a good century afterwards, and 
were witnessed on various occasions by Elizabeth, 
James I., and Charles I. Their last refuge was 
the City of London, where the relics of the old 
Moralities are still to be seen in the pageantry of 
the Lord Mayor's Show. 

As the subject of this little book is a German 
Passion Play 4 , a few words may be appropriate on 
the development of the religious drama in that 
country. 

As I have said above, convent plays — that is 
Miracle Plays acted under the superintendence of 
the monks, and generally in the cloisters of the 
convents — were known in Germany in the time of 
Charlemagne. But the earliest specimen that has 
come down to us is the manuscript of a dozen 

4 The word " Passion-Play " was applied exclusively to 
the representation of Christ's Passion and Resurrection, as 
distinguished from the Miracle Plays or Mysteries, which 
had to do with the lives of the Saints. 



Introduction. 1 1 

dramatic plays, composed, for the edification of 
her nuns, by a remarkable woman, Hrotsvitha, 
Abbess of the convent of Gandersheim. She was 
born in 930, and tradition says that she was by 
birth a Greek princess. Her plays are written in 
Terentian Latin, and were frequently acted within 
the walls of the convent " to the joy and edification 
of the nuns." 

From this time we read of similar plays and 
representations in Germany, as well as in Italy, 
Spain, France, and England ; but they were all 
written in Latin, and the German muse took two 
centuries from the time of Hrotsvitha to learn the 
common language of the people. First the dia- 
logue was translated into German, and then the 
strophes and anti-strophes of the chorus. Then 
the whole play assumed a German dress, and the 
costumes were those of ordinary life at the time. 
The man who personated Christ appeared as Van 
Eyks represents Him in his pictures, with a papal 
tiara, a rich tunic studded with pearls, and a stole 
and pastoral staff. In the Epiphany Plays the 



22 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

Three Kings wore the costly dress of the knights 
and merchants of the time — velvet and fur coats, 
and rare foreign stuffs. The ordinary actors wore 
the costumes of common citizens and peasants, 
with pointed shoes and head-circlets of tinkling 
bells. 

One of the earliest and simplest of the German 
Mystery Plays was the " Lament of the Virgin on 
the Death of Christ," a sort of religious dirge, 
acted on Good Friday by way of preparation for 
the joy of the Easter festival. It was modelled, both 
in the melody and form, on the " Meistersang," 
which occupied an intermediate position between 
the gaiety of the " Volkslieder" and the gravity of 
the chorale. There is a great variety of these 
" Mary's Laments," and they may possibly have 
suggested the well-known " Stabat Mater." 

To the "Mary's Lament" succeeded the Passion 
Plays, representing the Passion, Burial, and Resur- 
rection of Christ. At a later period the Ascension 
of Christ was represented, and also the Assumption 
of the Virgin — a tradition that floated westward, 



Introduction. 23 

probably in the wake of the Crusaders and pilgrims. 
The "Destruction of Jerusalem" and the " Day of 
Judgment" were also among the earliest of the 
religious plays of Germany. 

In the beginning of the fourteenth century the 
German religious drama made a decided step for- 
ward. Till then the representations took place 
in the churches. Now, stages were erected in the 
streets and market-places, with several stories one 
above another, to give greater scope for scenical 
display. The number of actors was also greatly 
increased — sometimes amounting to several hun- 
dreds — and the whole thing was conducted on a 
much more expensive and elaborate scale. The most 
celebrated of the early German plays, and which 
obtained the widest popularity, was the "Ludus 
de Decern Virginibus;" or, " Tragedy of the Ten 
Virgins." It was brought out in Eisenach in 1332, 
and with such overpowering effect that it threw 
the Landgrave Frederick into a fit of apoplexy, 
which he never got over, and of which he died 
two years afterwards. He was a prince of in- 



24 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 

domitable spirit, as he had proved not only under the 
cruel treatment of his profligate father, Albert the 
Bearded, but even more in the struggle which he 
maintained, at last successfully, for his rights 
against two Emperors and against Vladimar, 
Margrave of Brandenburg. The evening of his 
life promised to end calmly and happily ; so that 
he was called Frederick the Joyful, in allusion to 
the peace and joy of his later years, as contrasted 
with the sadness of his childhood and the stormy 
period of his contest for his rights. On the whole, 
he did not appear a very likely man to be killed 
by a Mystery Play ; but so it was. 

It happened thus. In 1332 the inhabitants of 
Eisenach and the neighbourhood were anxious to 
celebrate the return of peace by means of some 
public entertainment ; and the Pastor of Eisenach, 
willing to gratify their wishes, suggested the per- 
formance of a Miracle Play. The subject chosen 
was the Parable of the Ten Virgins, which was 
dramatized by a Dominican monk, and acted by 
brothers of the Order. The piece has considerable 



hitrodtiction. 25 

merits, and a short outline of it may be interesting, 
and also help to explain the extraordinary effect 
which it produced on Frederick the Joyful, though 
the pomp of the scenery, and the vigour and 
solemnity of the acting, to which Johannes Rothe 
testifies, must be left to the imagination. Every 
scene has its corresponding sacred songs and 
antiphons, as well as recitations and dialogues. 

First appears the " Dominica Persona," or 
person who takes the part of Christ, with Mary 
and the Angels singing in the top story of the 
stage, which represented Heaven. Then the Vir- 
gins of the Parable, in two divisions, and already 
differing in dress and aspect, make their ap- 
pearance on the second floor, representing the 
world. After some singing an angel announces 
the Play to the people thus : — " Silence ! Good 
people, and take heed. We bring you news of 
the dear Son of God, Jesus Christ. Oh ! how 
sweet to name His name !" 

Christ Himself then bids His angels fetch those 
who had been invited to His feast : Dicite invitatis : 



26 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

Ecce prandiunt Menm paravi ; Venite ad Nuptias. 
Whereupon two angels descend among the Virgins, 
and exhort them to be ready to go into the feast 
with loins girt and lamps burning. As the angels 
ascend into heaven and the curtain falls, the 
Wise Virgins take up the strain of Christ's mes- 
sage and exhort each other to perseverance and 
watchfulness. The Foolish Virgins, on the other 
hand, encourage each other to procrastinate. God 
did not mean His creatures to be for ever worry- 
ing themselves. He gave life in order that it might 
be enjoyed. Time enough to begin thinking of 
death when age approaches. God does not desire 
the death of a sinner, but on the contrary wishes 
him to return and live, and one may therefore 
safely trust to His mercy. When the zest of life 
is gone, one may then cut off one's hair, and go 
into a convent, and mortify the flesh. And so 
the Foolish Virgins dance merrily off the stage. 

A third scene follows, in which one of the Wise 
Virgins comforts her sisters in their afflictions. 
They are despised and rejected of men, but it is 



Introduction. 27 

for their Master's sake. They are now sharing His 
sufferings, but He will soon return as the Bride- 
groom of His virgin choir, and they will enter with 
Him to the marriage feast. 

The next act represents the Foolish Virgins, 
slumbering heavily after a revel, and slowly 
awakening, but only to find that their lamps have 
gone out, and they have not wherewith to replen- 
ish them. They are seized with consternation, and 
after a hurried canvassing of various schemes, they 
go at last to the Wise to borrow oil. They make a 
most touching appeal, but the Wise Virgins refuse, 
for they have none to spare — no superfluous graces 
which they can afford to impart to others. The 
distracted suppliants rush about every where to 
relight their lamps, but in vain. And meanwhile 
the Bridegroom appears. An angel announces His 
arrival to the Wise Virgins, who, being ready, at 
once join the bridal train and enter into the 
wedding chamber. Christ bids Mary place them 
beside her, and she, executing her Son's command, 
puts crowns on their heads, and promises them 



28 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 

the supreme joys of heaven. The Wise Virgins 
then sing the Sanctus and Gloria in Excelsis, and 
Christ holds His feast with His ransomed guests. 

While this is going on, the Foolish Virgins stand 
outside, and implore to be admitted. They bewail 
their folly, appeal to His bitter death and tender 
mercy, remind Him that they are weak women, 
and appeal to His love for His own Virgin Mother. 
But the answer is, " Too late. Ye have wasted 
your lives, and never more can enter in." The 
wretched suppliants then address their prayer to 
" Mary, Mother, Maid," and adjure her by her 
pity, of which they had heard so much, and 
which they now so sorely need, and for the honour 
of her sex, to intercede for them to her Divine Son. 
Mary promises to try, but fears it will be in vain. 
She kneels, and earnestly entreats her Son to for- 
give the Foolish Virgins. He explains to her the 
impossibility of breaking His eternal laws even to 
oblige her, and refuses her petition. There is then 
a representation of hell, with the devils carrying off 
the lost, the Foolish Virgins among them. At this 



Introduction. 29 

sight the Virgin kneels again before her Son, points 
to her motherly heart, which the sword had pierced 
for love of Him, and once more asks pardon for 
the Foolish Virgins. Christ answers her gently, and 
tells her that a too late repentance makes salvation 
impossible, and the Foolish Virgins must now go into 
that state which they have prepared for themselves. 

Then follows a graphic description of the 
terrible memories and unavailing regrets of the 
lost, and the joyful surprise of the saints at being 
rewarded so much beyond their deserts. 

This was a view of the Gospel which excited 
and terrified Frederick the Joyful. "What means 
this Christian faith," he exclaimed, "if God will not 
pity us even when Mary and the Saints intercede 
for us ? " He started for Wartzburg in a towering 
passion, and was "so infuriated that it was five days 
before the learned could make him understand the 
Gospel." But that fright was too much for him. He 
was seized with apoplexy, and never left his bed 
again till he was carried two years afterwards to 
his grave in the Chapel of St. John at Eisenach. 



30 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

It is impossible to read the " Tragedy of the 
Ten Virgins" without being struck with the 
healthy and elevated morality which runs through 
it. It may be assumed, I suppose, that the 
drama of a period is a fair index of its moral 
and religious condition. If this be granted, we 
may argue that the state of society which is 
depicted in the " Tragedy of the Ten Virgins " 
could not have been so hopelessly bad as some 
declamations on the vice and ignorance of the 
" Dark Ages " would lead us to believe. When 
we reflect, too, that the " Tragedy " is the com- 
position of a Dominican preacher, we may infer 
that mediaeval divines were not so incapable of 
preaching the pure Gospel as they are sometimes 
represented. 

From the end of the fourteenth century we have 
copious notices of dramatic representations in 
various parts of Germany. Some of them were 
on a very large scale, both as regards the accesso- 
ries of the play and the time it took to act. In 
some instances it took more than a week to get 



Introduction. 3 1 

through the performance ; and so realistic was the 
representation, that serious accidents sometimes 
occurred. In a Passion Play in Metz, in 1437, the 
priest who acted our Lord's part nearly died on the 
cross. He was taken down in a state of insensi- 
bility, and another priest took his place, and went 
through the rest of the play. Another priest who 
played the part of Judas all but succeeded in 
hanging himself. 

It was customary for the man who personated 
Judas to have a black bird — a raven if possible — 
under his robe, which flew away when the suicide 
took place, to represent the Traitor's black soul. 
Sometimes, too, a dummy was made to play the 
role of Judas in the suicide scene, and it was so con- 
trived that the rope broke at the proper time, and 
the figure fell and burst open. Another variation was 
to let Judas drop through a flaming aperture 
representing hell, amidst the crashing of boards and 
the shouts of the spectators. 

In the fifteenth century a writer of the name of 
R. Bart composed a gigantic Play, which consisted 



32 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

of eight thousand verses, and embraced the whole 
Bible history from the creation of the world to the 
resurrection of Christ. There is, however, as far 
as I know, no record of its having ever been acted. 

These Plays, and especially those that represented 
our Lord's Passion, found a genial home among 
the picturesque valleys of the Tyrol, where they 
maintained their ground long after they were driven 
out of the plains. Some remnants of them still 
survive in secluded places ; but the only place 
where the old Passion Play is still performed in 
its integrity, and with all the splendour and more 
than the reverence of ancient days, is Ober-Am- 
mergau. 

In 1780, on the manifestation of a move- 
ment in favour of putting down Miracle Plays, the 
inhabitants of Ober-Ammergau received from the 
Churfurst, Karl Theodor, special permission to con- 
tinue the representation of their Passion Play. In 
1790 this privilege was renewed, but all similar 
plays elsewhere in Bavaria were forbidden, partly 
on the ground of their interfering with industry, 



Introduction. 33 

and partly for moral and religious reasons. In 
1 8 10 another attempt was made by the Bavarian 
authorities to put down Miracle Plays, and no ex- 
ception was made in favour of the decennial Passion 
Play of Ober-Ammergau. The villagers sent a 
deputation to Munich to plead the cause of their 
Passion Play before the ecclesiastical authorities, 
but in vain. They then addressed themselves to 
the king's chaplain, Anton Sambuga, who succeeded 
in obtaining for them the usual royal sanction. 

The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play had in the 
meantime undergone various revisions. The most 
considerable of these revisions took place in the 
beginning of this century. The play was then 
entirely rewritten and rearranged by Dr. Ottmar 
Weis, one of the monks of Ettal, and afterwards a 
pastor in the neighbourhood of Ammergau. He 
died in 1843, at the ripe age of 72. The last 
revision of the Play was made between 1840 and 
1850, by Anton Aloysius Daisenberg, a pupil of 
Dr. Ottmar Weis. 

Up to 1830 the Play was always acted in the 

C 



34 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

churchyard of Ober-Ammergau ; but, in that year, 
the pastor of the village refused the use of the 
churchyard, and the inhabitants were thus com- 
pelled to hold the representation outside the village. 
In the end this was a great advantage, for the 
churchyard was too confined ; and, in addition, the 
numerous gravestones seriously interfered both with 
the acting and the scenery. 

Whatever profits remain, after defraying the 
necessary expenses of the Play, and making a 
contribution to a Reserve Fund, are devoted to 
charitable purposes. In i860 the number of 
visitors was 60,000, and the proceeds were 54,000 
florins. 

I have been asked by several to give some 
practical information for the use of intending 
visitors to the Ober-Ammergau Passion Play, and 
I do not know that I can do better than copy the 
following letter which appeared in the Times of 
June 27. It puts in a clear and concise form the 
information which I had myself collected on the 
subject : — 



Introduction. 35 

To the Editor of " The Times" 
SIR, — I was one of those who were present at 
the Passion Play at Ober-Ammergau, which is so 
admirably described by your correspondent, who 
has entered into the whole spirit with which it is 
carried out. Anxious that others should enjoy 
such a privilege, I collected on the spot whatever 
information I thought might be useful to others, 
and I now forward it to you. 

Ober-Ammergau may be reached from three 
quarters. 

1. From Munich by Weilheim (2 J hours' rail), 
and thence by carriage or omnibus in four or five 
hours. 

2. From Innsbruck by carriage in twelve or 
fourteen hours, by Zirl, Seefeld, and Partenkir- 
chen, a most beautiful road. An omnibus leaves 
the Moonshine, Innsbruck, every Saturday morning 
at 5 A.M., reaching Ammergau at 8 P.M. ; fare, three 
or four florins. The charge for a carriage is forty 
or fifty florins. 

3. From Bale, via Constance to Lindau, and 

c 2 



36 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

thence by rail to Kempten (two hours and a half), 
and on by carnage in twelve or fourteen hours to 
Ammergau by Fussen and Steingarten, skirting 
the foot of the mountains. Carriage thirty florins. 

Travellers would do well to arrive on Friday 
night or early on Saturday, to see the influx of 
the country people late in the evening. Rooms 
and tickets should, if possible, be secured before- 
hand. 

Sebastian Veit (Madam Veit speaks French as 
well as German), George Igwinck, and John Lang 
are among many who receive strangers, and if 
their rooms are full they will provide others, and 
give every local information as to carriages and 
routes. There is no difficulty in finding con- 
veyances to leave Ammergau after the perform- 
ance. Letters should be directed, " Ober-Am- 
mergau, Bavaria." Board and lodging cost from 
three and a half to five florins per day. The fare 
is simple, but good ; and the accommodation is 
perfectly clean, but of a humble character. 

The days fixed for the ensuing months are 



Introduction. 37 

July 3, 10, 17, 24, 31 ; August 7, 14, 21, 28 ; Sep- 
tember 8, ii, 18, 25, 29. 

I remain, 

Yours faithfully, 
June 25. M. S. 

I will only add to the information supplied in this 
letter that the most direct route from England to 
Ober-Ammergau is by the Rhine and Munich. 
Those who do not mind a five hours' sea-passage 
will find the Dover and Ostend route very pleasant. 
By leaving Charing Cross in the morning (at 7.30 
I think) they will arrive at Cologne about 10.30 
the same evening. If time is no object, they can 
go up the Rhine by steamer ; but the only part 
of the river that is at all worth seeing is that be- 
tween Bonn and Bingen. The best plan, therefore, 
would be to take the train to Bonn, catch the 
steamer there, and leave it at Bingen. From 
Bingen there are various routes to Munich ; but 
the lover of the picturesque will probably prefer 
to go a little out of his way, to see charming old 
Nuremberg. The distance from Bingen to Nurem- 



38 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

berg is from five to six hours, and from Nuremberg 
to Munich somewhat less. Munich will repay a 
sojourn of two or three days. The hotels are ex- 
cellent, and most reasonable. I stayed for ten 
days at the Vierjahreszeiten (Four Seasons), which 
is supposed to be the best in Munich, and I can 
recommend it in terms of unqualified praise. I 
paid less than I should pay at a second-rate hotel 
in Paris, and I fared as well as I should fare at 
one of the first-class. My experience is confined 
to the Vierjahreszeiten, but I was told that the 
other hotels in Munich are also excellent. It is 
safer to engage rooms beforehand. I was there in 
the beginning of June, and even then the hotels 
were very full. 

The visitor to Ober-Ammergau ought, if possible, 
to arrive there on Friday, and he should leave 
Munich by the first train (6.30 A.M.). He can; 
either take the train to Weilheim, where he can 
hire a carriage at a very moderate price to Ober- 
Ammergau (my friend and I paid 17J. for a very 
good carriage and pair) ; or he may leave the train 



Introduction. 39 

at Starnberg and go by steamer (which meets the 
train) to Seeshaupt, a distance of fifteen miles. From 
Seeshaupt omnibuses and diligences run to Mur- 
nau ; and at Murnau, which is about two and a half 
hours' drive from Ober-Ammergau, he will have 
no difficulty in getting a vehicle of some kind, espe- 
cially if he gets there on Friday. Murnau is a 
nice clean town, and has an excellent inn, the 
"Post." The sail on the Starnbergsee makes the 
journey a few hours longer — a drawback for which 
the scenery on its banks hardly makes up. The 
view of the snow-capped peaks of the Tyrolese 
mountains from the deck of the steamer is cer- 
tainly very pretty ; but that is almost the only 
view worth seeing which the traveller misses 
by declining the steamer and going on to Weil- 
heim by the train. I went by Weilheim and re- 
turned by Seeshaupt ; so that I give the result of 
my own observation. 

Those who wish to make certain of lodgings in 
Ober-Ammergau should write beforehand to some 
person in the village. The writer of the letter given 



4-0 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

above mentions several names, to which I may add 
Madame George Lang, and Joseph Gutzjell, the 
schoolmaster of the village, and also the conductor 
of the orchestra at the Passion Play. Letters 
should be written in German. 

Visitors should be careful to provide themselves 
with opera-glasses, as the seats in the covered part 
of the theatre are at a considerable distance from 
the stage. 

It is strictly forbidden to take notes during the 
performance, and a transgression of this rule ren- 
ders the delinquents liable to expulsion from the 
theatre. 



THE 

OBER-AMMERGAU PASSION 
PLAY. 

{From an occasional Correspondent}) 

Ober-Ammergau, 

Whitsunday. 

'^pHROUGH the kindness of a friend I was 
fortunate enough to secure a room here 
before I left England. Still I thought it prudent 
to take time by the forelock, and my friend and 
myself accordingly got up at five o'clock yesterday 
morning, and after a hurried breakfast found 
ourselves in the train at Munich at half-past six. 
About half-past eight we arrived at the Starn- 
bergsee, a pretty lake, fifteen miles long and three 
and a half broad. A steamer is in waiting here 
to convey to the other end of the lake such pas- 
sengers as wish to vary their journey in that way. 
We were anxious, however, to reach our destination 
with as little delay as possible, and therefore went 
on by rail to Weilheim. The line skirts the west 



42 The Obcr-Ammergaii Passion Play. 

bank of the lake, so that we did not lose much of 
the views by declining the steamer. About half- 
past nine we reached Weilheim, where we found an 
abundance of vehicles of every description waiting 
the arrival of the train. The distance from there to 
Ober-Ammergau is about twenty-seven miles, and 
we engaged a two-horse chaise to take us all the 
way for the moderate sum of seventeen shillings. 
For the first twenty miles of our drive we passed 
through an undulating country, prettily wooded 
and well cultivated, and reminding us occasionally 
of English park scenery. Before us stood the Bava- 
rian highlands, with their fantastic peaks peering 
like spectres through the gradually dissolving mist, 
and their lower parts draped in a blue transparent 

.veil of tremulous haze. At Murnau, a handsome 
little market town, we stopped for an hour and a 

'half to rest our horses and to dine. Then, after 
another hour's drive through the open country, we 
entered a magnificent mountain gorge, not unlike 
the Pass of Killiecrankie, in Perthshire, but far sur- 
passing it in wild grandeur. Our road, which now 



The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 43 

became so steep that our horses had much difficulty 
in dragging the empty carriage after them, followed 
the course of the Loisach, a stream which murmurs 
gently enough at this season of the year, but which 
must make music of a different sort when it is 
swollen by winter floods. On each side of the 
Loisach rise almost perpendicularly two lofty moun- 
tains, covered to their summits with pines, and as 
you look back, after a quarter of an hour's ascent, 
you see the entrance of the pass as it were shut in 
by the giant forms of the Zugspitz and Wetterstein, 
two wild, bare mountains streaked with snow, the 
one nearly 10,000 feet, and the other over 7000 feet 
high. As we approach the summit of the pass we 
see in the distance, high above the valley, what 
looks like a huge dome surmounted by a cross, with 
two weights hanging down from each arm. On 
inspecting it through the glass, however, the dome 
turns out to be the summit of a rocky precipice, 
called the Kofel, which rises perpendicularly to the 
height of at least 2000 feet over against the village 
of Ober-Ammergau. On the top of this precipice 



44 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

the pious villagers have erected a colossal cross be- 
tween two young pines, which look in the distance 
like pendant weights. At the top of the pass, on 
a grassy slope of the mountain, stands the Bene- 
dictine monastery of Ettal. What an eye those 
Benedictines had for scenery ! The chief of their 
houses, Monte Casino, stands on a craggy steep 
befitting the position which it so frequently occu- 
pied in the Middle Ages as the refuge and strong- 
hold of religion and civilization. But, as a rule, the 
Benedictines made their home, where it was pos- 
sible, in some secluded mountain nook, away from 
the turmoil of the world, as became their studious 
habits. The monastery of Ettal was founded in 
1332 by the Emperor Ludovic, was suppressed in 
1803, and is now in the possession of a Bavarian 
nobleman, who uses part of it as a brewery. It has 
some good pictures by Tyrolese painters, and a fine 
ceiling by Knoller ; but the most curious object in 
it is a miraculous image of the Virgin, which, ac- 
cording to the legend of the place, was presented to 
Ludovic by an angel. In front of the monastery is 



The Ober-Ammergau Passion Blay. 45 

a tall may-pole, which was gaily decorated yester- 
day as we drove past. 

Three miles beyond Ettal lies the village of Ober- 
Ammergau, in the valley of the Ammer, a small 
clear river from which the village takes its name. 
It is completely shut in by mountains. On the 
south-east towers the frowning Kofel, having on 
each side of it jagged peaks covered with pines. 
On the opposite side of the Ammer, on which the 
village stands, the mountains, though high, are 
softer. They are clothed with pine ; but imme- 
diately behind the village are green grassy slopes. 
The village was in a glow of sunshine, and looked 
its very best as we drove into it at half-past three 
yesterday afternoon. We made at once for the 
house of the worthy woman who had promised to 
provide lodgings for us. She was as good as her 
word. Her own house was full, but she had secured 
rooms for us in the house of the village school- 
master, Gutsjell by name. Nothing could be better, 
for our host is not only the schoolmaster of Ober- 
Ammergau, but in addition the postmaster and 



46 The, Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

sexton, and on this occasion the conductor of the 
orchestra at the Passionsspiel. He is a talkative, 
intelligent, and most obliging man, and while his 
wife was preparing our dinner he volunteered to 
show us over the theatre, and give us our choice of 
places for the performance, which is fixed for to- 
morrow, so as not to interfere with the high festival 
of to-day. 

The theatre, a wooden erection, is just outside the 
village, between two rows of poplars, and is evi- 
dently constructed after the model of an ancient 
Greek theatre. The proscenium is exposed to the 
sky, except a portion in the middle, where most of 
the acting and all the tableaux vivants are performed 1 . 
On the front gable of this covered part a village 
artist has painted a star-spangled firmament, with 
the figures of Faith, Hope, and Charity, and 
crowned by a carved representation of the fabled 
pelican suckling its young from its pierced breast. 
On the left of the proscenium, as you face it from 

1 The stage is 118 feet broad, 168 feet deep, and contains 
a surface of 20,000 square feet. 



The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 47 

the auditorium, is Pilate's house, and on the right the 
house of Annas, the high priest ; and beyond, along 
the open. space on either side, 3'ou see the streets of 
Jerusalem stretching away in the distance. The 
seats in the auditorium rise tier behind tier, as in 
a Greek theatre. Four-fifths of them are open deal 
benches, uncovered and roofless. Behind these, 
and separated from them by a wooden partition, 
is a row of comfortable cane-bottomed chairs, and 
in the centre of the row are two large arm-chairs, 
which our host told us were intended for royal 
personages. Behind the chairs are tiers of wooden 
benches stuffed and covered with canvas. This part 
of the auditorium is roofed with a wooden scant- 
ling, which shields it effectually from rain and sun % 
Admission to all parts of the theatre is by ticket, 
and the highest price is five shillings, so that the 
managers of the Passion Play cannot be accused of 
avarice, for the demand is so great that they might 
really charge any thing they liked. 

This morning, at eight o'clock, I attended high 
mass in the village church. The church, which is 



48 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 

by no means small, was as full as it could hold, and 
I never saw a more devout congregation. Every one, 
old and young, had a book in the vernacular, and 
evidently followed the service without difficulty. 
After the Nicene Creed the priest retired into the 
vestry, where he left his chasuble, and ascended the 
pulpit in his alb and stole. He knelt down and said 
a short prayer in silence, then stood up and gave 
out the notices for the week, after which he read the 
whole of the Gospel for the day, and founded on it 
a good extempore sermon of half an hour's length, 
impressing on his flock, among other things, the 
necessity of holy dispositions for the contemplation 
of the spectacle which they were to witness on the 
morrow. After the sermon and the ascription at 
the end of it, he said, in German, " The Lord be 
with you ;" to which the congregation with one 
voice responded, " And with thy spirit." He then 
turned to the east, and began the Apostles' Creed 
in the vernacular, the congregation repeating it after 
him with a heartiness which I have seldom heard 
equalled. After the Creed all knelt down, and said 



The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 49 

the Lord's Prayer in German, after which they sang 
a litany, also in German, the men and women sing- 
ing alternate verses. After the litany the priest 
left the pulpit, put on his chasuble, and went on 
with the rest of the mass. In addition to the high 
mass at eight, there were five low masses, one every 
hour from three o'clock to eight, and they were all 
well attended by devout communicants. There were 
several other services all through the day, and the 
church was full at all of them ; nor did the women 
predominate, as is the case in too many places on 
the Continent. 

It has been raining with but little intermission 
the whole of to-day, and I begin to fear we shall 
have a wet day for the Passio?isspiel to-morrow ; but 
Herr Gutsjell is a man of cheerful temperament, 
and he assures us that the rain of to-day is a sign of 
a fair morrow. The village is crowded with visitors, 
and I wonder greatly how the inhabitants manage 
to provide for such a large influx of strangers. There 
are more, too, coming, and they will continue to 
come all through the night. I have just taken a 



50 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 

stroll outside the village, and the whole valley seems 
alive with travellers, some on foot, a few on horse- 
back, and others in vehicles of every shape and 
size. Many of them must sleep in the open air in 
spite of the rain, for the village contains but 1300 
souls, and there must be seven times that number of 
strangers in it to-night. 

Many of your readers are, of course, acquainted 
with the origin of the Ammergau Passion Play ; 
but for the sake of the multitude who are not so 
well informed, it may be well to give the history of 
it in a few words, as it will help them to follow the 
detailed account of the play which I hope to send 
you in my next letter. 

In the year 1633 there raged in the neighbour- 
hood of Ammerthal (Valley of the Ammer) a deadly 
plague which threatened to depopulate the districts 
infected. These were Partenkirchen, Eschelohe, 
and Kohlgrub — all separated from Ammerthal by 
a rampart of mountains. The Ammerthalers took 
every precaution to protect their valley from the 
dread contagion, but without avail. A native of 



The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 51 

Ammerthal, who worked during the summer in 
Eschelohe as a day-labourer, evaded the quarantine, 
and entered the valley by a secret path in order to 
celebrate among his family an annual church festi- 
val. He carried the infection with him, and on the 
second day after his arrival he was a corpse. In 
three weeks eighty-four of the small community were 
carried off, and the mourning and terrified survivors, 
despairing of human succour, made their supplica- 
tion to God, and registered a solemn vow that if He 
heard their cry, and removed the plague, they would 
represent every ten years, " for thankful remem- 
brance and edifying contemplation, and by the help 
of the Almighty, the sufferings of Jesus, the Saviour 
of the world." So runs the local tradition, which 
goes on to say that the prayer was heard, " for not 
a single person died of the plague after the vow 
was made, though many were infected with it." In 
the following year the first fulfilment of the vow was 
made, and our Lord's Passion was first represented 
in Ober-Ammergau, and has been continued since 
then without intermission every ten years. The 
D 2 



5.2 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

sanction of the King has to be obtained before each 
representation, and is given as a matter of course. 
Within the last fifty years the Play has been im- 
proved both in the text and in the music ; in the 
former by one of the monks of the Ettal Monastery 
named Ottmar Weis, in the latter by Rochus 
Dedler, who was born in the year 1779, became the 
schoolmaster of Ober-Ammergau in 1802, and died 
in 1822. His bones lie in the village churchyard, 
but his soul still lives among the grateful villagers 
in the sweet music which he bequeathed to them, 
and which they resolutely refuse to publish. They 
will not suffer a single melody or bar of it to be 
copied. Libretti of the play may be had in abun- 
dance ; but these do not contain a note of the 
music, and of the words only the chorus songs. The 
rest is committed to writing and learnt by heart, 
but is kept secret among the performers. Visitors 
are forbidden to take notes during the performance. 
And now I think I have given your readers as 
much information as is necessary by way of prepara- 
tion for my next letter. 



The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. ^ 

Ober-Ammergau, 

June 8. 

Neither visitors nor natives, I take it, had much 
sleep here on Sunday night. A band of music 
paraded the village in the early part of the evening, 
and all through the night the air was alive with the 
sound of human voices, the tread of many feet, and 
the rumbling of carts and carriages, with now and 
then the boom of a gun. The inhabitants began 
the day with solemn acts of worship to Him the 
details of whose passion were about to be acted 
before their eyes " for thankful worship and edify- 
ing contemplation." There were masses every 
hour, from three o'clock to seven. Our landlady 
had our breakfast ready for my friend and myself 
at six, and we bent our steps towards the theatre 
about seven. The day was gloomy. It rained 
all through the night and early morning ; but now 
only a few drops fell at intervals. Still the weather 
looked any thing but cheerful. The sky was leaden 
and sullen, and the surrounding mountains were 
covered with thick mist down almost to their base. 



54 The Ober-Ammcrgati Passion Play. 

On reaching the theatre a few minutes after seven 
we found it full almost to overflowing, except the 
comparatively small portion which was roofed over. 
This was about half full. We presented the tickets 
which Herr Gutsjell had procured for us, and were 
shown into the two best seats in the theatre — the 
arm-chairs intended for royalty, which I mentioned 
in my last letter. Royalty had not put in an 
appearance on this occasion, and so our kind host 
managed to get the vacant chairs assigned to us. 
Considering that the Play lasted eight hours and 
a half, with an interval of an hour in the middle, 
it was a great boon to be seated in a comfortable 
arm-chair, with a ledge in front for one's book. 
Before the clock struck eight the theatre was as 
full as it could hold, and presented a picturesque 
appearance. Every variety of dress was repre- 
sented, from the last Paris fashion to the tra- 
ditional costume of the Tyrolese mountaineer, 
which consists of a shooting-jacket with green 
collar and facings, a waistcoat adorned with rows 
of shining buttons, short breeches reaching within 



The Ober-Ammcrgau Passion Play. ^ 

two inches of the knee, and green woollen leggings 
which cover the calf, but leave the knee and about 
an inch of the small part of the leg exposed. 
The foot is encased in a short sock, which rarely 
appears over a stout boot that reaches to the ankle, 
and the head is covered with the graceful hat 
and waving plume which are so becoming in their 
native home, where they harmonize with the rest 
of the costume and with the character of the 
scenery. Over this costume, when it rains, the 
Tyrolese hunter wears a loose covering with a 
hole in the middle for the head to pass through, 
somewhat like the Moorish burnous. Sometimes 
it is nothing more than a blanket ; but if the 
wearer happens to be a dandy, he aspires to a more 
costly material ; or, if he cannot afford that, he 
fashions his burnous out of sheepskins, with the 
long wool outside, and dyed according to his 
fancy. A man sat some benches below me en- 
veloped in one of these woolly coverings of light 
sky-blue. Some of the women were bareheaded, 
with the hair gathered up behind in a variety of 



5<5 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 

tasteful arrangements, and others wore sealskin 
caps, not unlike the fur cap which the Russians 
wear in winter, except that the crown, instead of 
being flat and circular, is divided into two cones. 

The orchestra took their places about a quarter 
before eight, and played a pleasing overture. When 
that was finished a gun was fired, and as its last 
echo died away among the mountains, the chorus 
entered at eight o'clock precisely. It consists of 
twenty singers — eight men and twelve women — 
the men in the middle, with six women on each side. 
They are all dressed alike, and, with one excep- 
tion, have long flowing hair, smooth faces, and 
sandalled feet, so that in some cases it is difficult 
to distinguish the sex except by the voice. The 
dress consists of a loose robe, over which a white 
muslin tunic, trimmed with lace, falls down to the 
knee, and over this again a long mantle, open in 
front and reaching almost to the ground. The 
mantles and robes were of different colours — some 
purple, some crimson, and others blue ; but all the 
tunics were white. The chorus entered from corre- 



T.ht Ober-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 57 

sponding doors on either side of the proscenium, and 
arranged themselves in a row according to height, 
the tallest in the midst, and the rest diminishing in 
stature on each side of him till they presented the 
form of an unstrung bow. The play consists of a 
series of acts in the life of our Lord, each preceded 
by one or more types from the Old Testament, 
represented in tableaux vivants, and the duty of the 
chorus is to explain each type, with its appropriate 
lesson, to the audience. The coryphaeus, a hand- 
some bearded baritone — the only man in the 
chorus who had any hair on his face — sang or re- 
cited in monotone a short explanation of the type 
and ensuing act. Then the chorus sang a fuller 
explanation, which generally concluded with a moral 
addressed to the audience. This was sung in har- 
mony, and interspersed with trios, duets, and solos. 
When the chorus have sung their part about half 
through they divide in the middle and hie off to 
the right and left of the drop scene. As they are 
doing this the curtain rises and you see the type 
in tableau. Those tableaux are quite wonderful for 



58 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

their vivid realism and artistic grace. After the 
chorus have done singing the curtain falls, the 
chorus move off the stage to the right and left, and 
there is a pause of a very few minutes, during 
which the orchestra plays. Then the curtain rises 
again, and some incident in the life of our Lord is 
acted by the respective characters. The dialogues 
in these acts are sometimes very long, and are not 
given in any of the published libretti ; but the 
elocution is so distinct that you hardly lose a word 
even at the distance where I sat. There is a promp- 
ter's box on the stage, but I do not know whether 
it was occupied. Anyhow, a good deal of the acting 
occurs at such a distance from it that the prompter's 
office must be somewhat of a sinecure. It must 
require an unusual effort of memory to remember 
all the parts ; but there was not a single hitch from 
the beginning of the play to the end. 

The play opens with a prologue explanatory of 
two tableaux. In the first Adam and Eve are being 
driven out of Paradise by an angel wielding a 
flaming sword. In the second tableau a cross is 



The Ober-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 59 

seen with a figure clasping it in a kneeling attitude, 
and a group of little children kneeling before it, 
while the chorus, also kneeling, sing a plaintive 
melody, of which the words are — " Eternal One ! 
hear Thy children's stammering prayer (for a child 
can only stammer), who, with holy awe, assemble 
to worship before the great sacrifice." And then 
the audience are addressed in the moral, " Follow 
by the side of our great Redeemer, until He has 
passed through His rough and stormy way and 
through His hot and bloody agony has gained for 
us the victory." 

The curtain here falls, the chorus retire, and 
when the curtain, after a short interval, is again 
raised, you see a motley .crowd of men, women, 
and children, in oriental dresses, and with branches 
in their hands. They are singing merrily and 
dancing with joy, and as the end of the gay pro- 
cession comes in sight you see in the midst of the 
rejoicing throng a striking figure, clad in a purple 
robe and crimson cloak, riding an ass. He has a 
handsome face, but his look is worn and sad, and 



60 The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 

his dark brown hair, which is parted down the 
middle, falls over his shoulders. This is Joseph 
Mair, who represents the part of Christ this year. 
His face is of an olive complexion, but the skin of 
his neck is beautifully white. He stands considerably 
over six feet, and has a figure which a sculptor might 
covet for a model. As the procession winds down 
the slope of Olivet the crowd sing out a song of 
welcome to the Son of David, who comes in the 
name of the Highest to take possession of David's 
throne. On entering the streets of Jerusalem Christ 
dismounts, goes straight to the Temple, and drives 
out those who are profaning it with the worship of 
Mammon. 

The next representation opens with a tableau of 
Joseph's brethren plotting his death, of which the 
chorus, as it does in all the tableaux, gives the ex- 
planation and points the moral. This is followed 
by a conclave of priests and Pharisees, discussing, 
with much animation of speech and gesture, the 
propriety and the means of putting Jesus to death. 
The next tableau represents young Tobias taking 



The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 61 

leave of his parents, and is followed by a second 
in which the forlorn bride in the Canticles adjures 
the maidens of Jerusalem to give her tidings of her 
Beloved. This tableau is the only one in the whole 
play that can be called tame, but it is redeemed by 
the sweetness of the song in which the bride and 
maids of Jerusalem address each other. These two 
types introduce Christ taking leave of His mother 
and friends in Bethany, where Mary anoints Him, 
and Judas murmurs at the waste. In the fourth 
representation King Ahasuerus puts away Vashti, 
and raises Esther to her forfeited throne. The song 
which explains this tableau brings out with great 
skill the typical character of Vashti's deposition 
and Esther's elevation, the former signifying the 
rejection of the Jews, who had obstinately re- 
fused the King's summons to the Royal feast, the 
latter representing the call of the despised Gentile 
race. But these last are warned at the end of the 
song that the doom of Vashti will be theirs if, 
like her, they presume on their privileges, and 
abuse God's erace. 



6 2 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play, 

When the curtain is again raised Christ is seen 
with His disciples going over the brow of Olivet on 
His last journey to the guilty city. On the rising 
ground on the opposite side of the valley you see 
the towers, and walls, and battlements of ancient 
Jerusalem in the soft glow of sunset, with the gilded 
dome of the temple crowning the sacred height. 
The sight of His own city, beautiful and impeni- 
tent, sleeping in fancied security on the brink of 
death, overcomes the Saviour. He stops and be- 
wails with tears her coming doom, because she 
knows not the time of her visitation. This is acted 
with great pathos, and is rendered still more im- 
pressive by the beautiful song which introduced it, 
and the refrain of which, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem !" 
is ringing in your ears — now rising in tones of an- 
guished warning, now dying away in a wail of despair. 

Meanwhile two of the disciples, Peter and John, 
had been sent before to provide a room where 
Christ might celebrate His last Passover, and you 
see them in the distance entering Jerusalem. They 
meet a lad carrying a pitcher, to whom they dis- 



The Ober-Ammcrgan Passion Play. 63 

close their errand. He takes them to his master, 
who, on hearing whose messengers they are, gladly 
accedes to their request. Judas in the meantime 
conceives the idea of betraying his Master. When 
the others leave the house of Bethany, after the 
incident of the anointing by Mary, he stays be- 
hind, dallying with his own tempting thoughts. 
Presently one Pharisee, and then another, join him 
and artfully give shape and direction to the vague 
brooding of the avaricious man. At first he is 
startled and horrified by the suggestion that he 
should satisfy the longings of covetousness by the 
betrayal of Christ. But the suggestion has taken 
root in his heart, and at last he promises to go 
to the Sanhedrim to seal the compact of betrayal. 
Here the curtain drops, and the next scene dis- 
closes in succession two typical tableaux — the first 
representing the Israelites fed with manna in the 
desert, the second displaying in the midst of the 
crowd two men carrying between them on a pole a 
huge bunch of grapes from Canaan ; while in front, 
to the right and left, are the chorus explaining, in 



6\ The Ober-Ammergati Passion Play. 

song, that the manna from heaven and the grapes 
from beyond the Jordan signify the mystical bread 
and wine in the Blessed Sacrament. Here, as in 
some other tableaux, there were nearly 300 figures in 
every variety of posture, yet the most minute in- 
spection failed to discover a single ungainly attitude 
or ungraceful pose, and they were all — even mites of 
children three years old — as motionless as marble 
statues. To these beautiful tableaux succeed the 
celebration of the last Passover and the institution 
of the first Eucharist. Our Lord and His disciples 
appear in a sitting attitude, evidently after the 
picture of Leonardo da Vinci ; but Christ does not 
pass on the consecrated elements after the manner 
of the Presbyterian Sacrament. He goes round 
the group and administers personally to each, after 
which He girds Himself with a towel and washes 
the disciples' feet. And then the chorus, out of 
sight, sing a solemn hymn ; and, immediately after, 
Christ gives the benediction, and as the curtain is 
falling you see the disciples following their Master 
to the Garden of Gethsemane. 



The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play, 65 

The next tableau represents the sons of Jacob 
selling Joseph to the band of the Midianitish mer- 
chants, of which the chorus explain the connexion 
with the sinful bargain of Judas, and warn the 
audience against the too frequent tendency of 
Christians to repeat, through covetousness, the 
traitor's crime. This is followed by a scene repre- 
senting the two tempters already mentioned leading 
Judas into the presence of the assembled Sanhedrim. 
After some chaffering on the part of the Council to 
reduce the price of blood, and some faint hauntings 
of better feelings on the part of Judas, the wretched 
man at length agrees to accept thirty pieces of 
silver, and counting them with the hurry of a guilty 
conscience, and dropping them into his bag, he 
rushes out, but not without a final menacing warn- 
ing from the priests to be true to his promise and 
not to forget the concerted sign by which he is to 
indicate his Master. Before the bargain is con- 
cluded, however, Nicodemus and Joseph of Arima- 
thea plead for justice, and protest against the pro- 
ceedings of the Council ; but they are reviled and 



66 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

brow-beaten, and leave the Council in high in- 
dignation. 

The next type is a tableau of Adam and Eve, 
with seven children, tilling the ground in the sweat 
of their brow, which the chorus explain as typical 
of Christ's bloody agony in the Garden of Olives. 
This is followed by a second tableau typical of 
Judas's kiss of treachery. It represents a company 
of soldiers disposed in various attitudes, and in the 
foreground Joab with his sword thrust into the side 
of Amasa while in the act of kissing him. The 
chorus meanwhile sing an impassioned apostrophe 
to the rock of Gibeon, at which the assassination 
took place, and which stands out bare and desolate 
behind the assassin and his victim. The curtain 
falls, rises again in a few minutes, and you see a 
third tableau signifying Christ's triumph at the very 
time His enemies were mocking Him, and vainly 
imagining that they had Him completely in their 
power to do with Him as they listed. This type is 
Samson, who appears a prisoner in the house of 
Dagon. One of the pillars on which the house 



The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 6y 

stands is broken by his side, and the other is clasped 
in his left arm, and about to yield to his mighty 
embrace. 

After these three tableaux, Christ appears with 
His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane, and 
endures His agony. This is acted with remarkable 
naturalness, but with exceeding reverence. When 
the Saviour falls to the earth the third time beneath 
the bloody agony, an angel, with a chalice in his 
hand, appears over His head and addresses Him in 
words of comfort. This appears to strengthen Him, 
and He returns to the three disciples, whom He finds 
again asleep. He exhorts them to watchfulness, 
and tells them that the traitor is at hand. The rest 
of the disciples are in the background, and are 
suddenly roused from their sleep by the approach 
of the soldiers, led by Judas, who carries a lantern. 
Then follows an exact repetition of the Gospel 
narrative — the kiss of Judas and Christ's reproach- 
ful question, the inquiry addressed to the soldiers 
as to the object of their search, and their sudden 

prostration at the sound of His dread name, the 
E 2 



68 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

maiming of Malchus by the impetuous Peter, and 
the healing of the wound by Christ, who rebukes 
Peter, and tells him that He has no need of carnal 
weapons, since legions of angels would hasten to 
His side if that were compatible with the recovery 
of man's fallen race. The soldiers then rush upon 
Him, bind His hands behind Him, and lead Him 
away. The disciples escape ; but John, followed 
timidly by Peter, returns and goes after the mourn- 
ful procession. 

This finishes the first part of the Play, and there 
is an interval of an hour. It is a little after twelve 
o'clock, and most of the audience leave the theatre 
to move their limbs and take refreshments. 

At one o'clock the theatre is again full, and the 
second part of the Play begins with a very effec- 
tive tableau of the scene described in the 22nd 
chapter of the 1st Book of Kings. Ahab and 
Jehoshaphat, in royal apparel and each holding a 
sceptre, are seated on their thrones. In front of 
them are some courtiers and a crowd of Jezebel's 
false prophets ; and close to Ahab stands the only 



The Ober-Ammcrgciu Passion Play. 69 

prophet of the Lord, Micaiah, and Zedekiah, the 
chief of Jezebel's prophets, in the act of smiting him 
on the cheek. This, as the chorus explain, is a 
type of Christ struck by the soldier for answering 
the High Priest truthfully, and is a parable of the 
fate of truth in every age. " Lies, hypocrisies, and 
flatteries you may easily buy with roses and laurels ; 
but you must bow before the truth, for it scorns to 
flatter, and is not amenable to bribes." After the 
tableau Christ is dragged by a crowd of soldiers and 
frantic priests before the house of Annas, who pre- 
sently appears above the multitude on the balcony 
of his house. A dialogue ensues between Annas 
and the shouting multitude below, and then Jesus 
is led up to the balcony and questioned by the 
High Priest about His doctrines. Christ appeals to 
the publicity with which He had spoken and acted, 
and refers the High Priest to those who had heard 
Him and seen His works. Thereupon a soldier 
strikes him, and is mildly answered in the words of 
the Gospel. Annas then sends Christ to Caiaphas, 
and the curtain falls. 



70 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

The next scene represents Christ arraigned before 
Caiaphas, found guilty, and condemned to death. 
The Gospel narrative is strictly adhered to in all 
its details, and the whole scene is acted with great 
power, but with an entire absence of any thing 
approaching to irreverence. The conduct of the 
soldiers and other persecutors is, of course, irreve- 
rent enough, but the Object of their indignities pre- 
serves such a majestic calm and such dignified bear- 
ing through it all, that pity, mingled with indigna- 
tion and awe, absorbs the feelings of the audience. 
The part of Peter, too (represented by Jacob Hett), 
is acted exceedingly well in this scene. He who 
was so bold a while ago now creeps stealthily after 
St. John (Johann Zwink) towards the High Priest's 
door, and refuses to enter till John has got special 
permission for him from one of the servants. And 
even then Peter skulks about the place as if afraid 
of his own shadow. Now and then he approaches 
the fire, round which the soldiers are discussing the 
great event of the night, but shrinks back the 
moment he observes any one looking at him. 



The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 71 

During one of these vain attempts to warm him- 
self the threefold denial is made ; and at the iast 
cockcrow Jesus is dragged in with His hands tied 
behind Him, and He gives a look to Peter which 
drives the conscience-stricken man out into the 
night to weep bitter tears of repentance. This 
scene is preceded by two tableaux. The first repre- 
sents Naboth stoned to death for blasphemy on the 
evidence of false witnesses. In the second Job sits 
miserable, by the side of a brick-kiln, against which 
his wife is leaning with a smile of fiendish mockery 
on her face as she tempts her afflicted husband to 
" curse God and die." 

In the next scene, the Sanhedrim, after delibera- 
tion, confirm the sentence of death passed on 
Christ before the tribunal of Caiaphas. While 
this is going on Judas appears upon the scene, 
full of remorse for what he has done. The con- 
ception of the traitor's conduct among these vil- 
lage actors appears to be that he had betrayed 
his Master partly through avarice and partly from 
a vindictive grudge in consequence of the rebukes 



72 The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 

and warnings which Christ had mercifully ad- 
dressed to him on various occasions ; but that he 
had no suspicion of the fatal tragedy in which his 
treachery was to end. He knew his Master's 
miraculous powers, and had seen Him more than 
once frustrate the evil designs of His enemies 
when He seemed quite at their mercy. Doubt- 
less He could baffle their plots on this occasion 
also, and Judas would thus have the opportunity 
of pocketing his bribe, and putting an affront on 
his Master without the fear of any more serious 
consequences. But when he sees that Christ either 
cannot or will not save Himself, and must really 
die, the full magnitude of his crime fills his soul 
with horror, and he rushes into the midst of the 
Council to express his remorse, and, if possible, to 
turn them from their purpose. But his wild grief 
and vehement expostulation are heard with cold 
mockery by those who have used him for their 
purpose, and who now remind him that he has 
received his reward, and that his remorse is no 
concern of theirs. This is more than the miser- 



The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 73 

able man can bear. He flings the bag containing 
the price of blood among the assembled priests, 
and rushes out. Presently he is seen again wan- 
dering about in the open country, and preparing, as 
the curtain falls, to commit suicide from the branch 
of a neighbouring tree. Gregor Lechner acts this 
part uncommonly well. It is preceded by a tableau 
in which Cain, holding a club, stands over the corpse 
of his murdered brother, and a woman with five 
children, one of whom is leading a lamb, occupies 
the background. Meanwhile the chorus sing an 
explanation of the tableau, which is remarkable for 
its subjective conception of hell. Instead of the 
coarse materialism of mediaeval imagery, the hell of 
the sinner is depicted as a fire burning from within. 
Cain and Judas flee from the haunts of men, and 
the latter " flings from him, in wild haste, the 
intolerable burden of life." But in vain. The un- 
dying worm and the quenchless flame are within 
the sinner's ruined soul. The faces of his fellow- 
men and the scenes of his crimes — from these he 
may escape ; but he cannot escape from himself, 



74 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

and is therefore in hell, wherever his local habita- 
tion may happen to be. 

In the next scene, which is preceded by a tableau 
of Daniel's enemies accusing him of blasphemy 
against the gods and treason against the King, 
Christ is accused before Pilate, who, after much 
discussion, sends Him to Herod. The latter re- 
ceives Him with a certain amount of courtesy, for 
he hopes to see some manifestation of mysterious 
power. But Christ preserves a dignified silence, 
and Herod, in disappointed anger, gives Him up 
to the brutal mockery of the soldiers, who array 
Him in a white sheet, and lead Him back to 
Pilate. The scene before Herod is introduced 
by a tableau representing King David's servants 
insulted by the King of Ammon, as related in 
% Samuel x. 

The next scene, before Pilate's judgment-seat, is 
a long and exciting one, and is a faithful render- 
ing of Gospel history, with the addition of a few 
embellishments, such as the introduction of Barab- 
bas between two gaolers, and subsequently of the 



The Ober-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 75 

two thieves. This scene is divided into two parts, 
each introduced by two types in two separate 
tableaux. In the first division Joseph's brethren 
are showing their father the coat of many colours 
stained with blood. To this group succeeds a 
tableau of Abraham on Mount Moriah in the act of 
slaying his son. His uplifted arm is arrested by 
the voice from heaven, and he sees a ram with its 
head fast in a thicket. This is explained by the 
chorus as typical of our Lord crowned with thorns. 
The tableaux of the second act of the scene in 
the judgment-hall are (1) Joseph elevated to the 
second place of honour in Egypt, and riding in 
Pharoah's chariot in the midst of a rejoicing mul- 
titude ; (2) the children of Israel in the desert 
drawing lots for the scapegoat. 

We now approach the last act of the sacred 
drama ; and the attention of the audience, which 
has never flagged through all these hours, becomes 
almost painfully intensified. The face of Nature, 
too, harmonizes well with the feelings of the vast 
multitude. The sky above looks gloomy and 



j 6 The Obcr-Amrnergau Passion Play. 

threatening, and the picturesque forms of the sur- 
rounding mountains are concealed in a winding- 
sheet of mist. 

The next scene is introduced by three tableaux 
in succession, all typical of the last acts of the 
Passion. In the first Isaac is seen ascending 
Moriah with the wood for the sacrifice on his back. 
His father holds him by the hand, and with the 
other hand carries a brasier containing the sacri- 
ficial fire. This is followed by two tableaux of 
wonderful impressiveness. The Israelites are en- 
camped in the wilderness, and the fiery flying 
serpents are among them ; some darting through 
the air, others creeping on the ground, where little 
children are innocently playing with them, all 
ignorant of danger till they receive the fatal wound. 
The curtain falls, and when it rises, almost im- 
mediately, the same multitude is seen, but in dif- 
ferent attitudes. In the midst of them is a cross, 
and suspended from its arms a brazen serpent, 
on which the eyes of the wounded are fixed, 
obedient to a sign from Moses. The curtain falls 
again, and there is an interval of breathless sus- 



The Obcr-Ammergaa Passion Play. 77 

pense. Then the sound of many voices is heard, 
and presently a horseman riding a grey charger 
emerges at the head of an excited procession from 
one of the gates of Jerusalem. As the procession 
winds its way slowly into view, the mother of 
Christ and Mary Magdalene, with other women 
and St. John, appear some way off, coming from 
an opposite direction. They are greatly agitated, 
and as they scan the advancing throng they see, 
turning the corner of Annas's house, the Man of 
Sorrows, blood-stained and bent beneath the 
weight of His heavy Cross, which He evidently 
cannot bear much farther. Some of the soldiers 
observing this, seize hold of Simon of Cyrene, who 
meets them accidentally, and compel him to bear 
the Cross. At this point Veronica, accompanied 
by two other women, comes out and fulfils the part 
assigned her in the legend — the only incident in 
the play which is not directly founded on Scrip- 
ture. As He approaches Calvary, Christ addresses 
the daughters of Jerusalem in the well-known 
words, and in a short time He passes out of 
sight. 



78 The Ober-Ammergan Passion Play. 

When the last of the procession has vanished, 
the chorus come on the stage in black mantles 
and sing a mournful song, bearing on the passion 
of Him " who loves, is silent, endures, suffers, 
and forgives." And through the melody of the 
song you hear the discordant strokes of a hammer, 
and shudder at the scene of which those ominous 
sounds too surely tell. When the chorus have 
finished their song the curtain rises, and you see 
two crosses erect, each bearing its victim. Be- 
tween them, stretched upon the ground, is a 
taller cross with a sad, wan figure nailed to it. 
It is slowly raised and fixed erect into its socket. 
The head of the Crucified One is crowned with 
thorns, and his face bedewed with blood. You see 
the nail-heads in his hands and feet, and the blood 
oozing from the wounds. Of course, you know 
that his hands are not pierced with nails, but you 
try in vain to penetrate the illusion and discover 
the means by which he is fastened to the Cross. 
Herr Gutsjell, the conductor of the orchestra, 
assured us that even he did not know the secret ; 



The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 79 

it was revealed in the strictest confidence only to 
the man who personated Christ, and to those who 
nailed him to the cross and took him down. I 
had a good glass, but the most careful scrutiny 
failed to discover any thing bearing the semblance 
of a cord or bandage, except round the right wrist, 
where I fancied I detected something like a strap. 
The figure is covered with a close-fitting flesh- 
coloured raiment, and it is just possible for a strap 
to be fixed round the body and wrists without 
detection on the part of the audience. There is a 
small rest for the feet, but as they are placed one 
over the other, the relief afforded by the rest cannot 
be very great. There are certainly no cords used, 
and the body is certainly released from the Cross 
by the extraction of nails, not by the undoing of 
bandages. You see the nails actually extracted 
from the hands and feet, and the rigid limbs drop- 
ping helplessly down. A nail was also extracted 
behind the middle of the back, and here, of course, 
there must have been some clasp to hold the body ; 
but it was impossible to see any thing. The physical 



80 The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 

effort required on the part of the person crucified 
must be very great. He hung exactly seventeen 
minutes, and after he was taken down you could 
see the limbs of the Cross damp with his per- 
spiration. The whole circumstances of the Cruci- 
fixion were gone through— the seven words on the 
Cross, as they are called, and all the other incidents 
recorded in the Gospels. Nature lent her aid to 
the verisimilitude of the scene, for there was a 
sombre hue over all the land as the pale figure 
cried, " It is finished," and dropped his head upon 
his breast. At this point a lad pushes his way 
through the crowd, and, rushing up to the High 
Priest, tells him that the veil of the Temple is rent 
from top to bottom. Amazement, not unmingled 
with terror, is depicted on the faces of the High 
Priest and Pharisees at this strange intelligence ; 
but, instead of softening their hearts, it makes them 
more malignant, and they give expression to their 
rage by gnashing of teeth and violent gesticulations 
towards the central Cross. The two thieves were 
corded to their crosses, and their arms were not 



The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 81 

stretched out, but drawn round and resting on the 
transverse limbs, so that their endurance was not 
put to any severe trial. 

By and by Joseph of Arimathea appears armed 
with an order from Pilate to take the body of 
Jesus. Thereupon two soldiers approach the 
crosses with mallets in their hands. They strike 
each of the thieves in the legs and chest ; but when 
one of them goes up to the Cross of Christ, Mary 
Magdalene stays his raised arm and pushes him 
back. Another soldier then pierces the left side of 
Christ with a spear, and a red stream issues out 
of the wound. The descent from the Cross — a 
most difficult achievement — was managed in a way 
that it is impossible to praise too highly. Two 
ladders were planted against the Cross — one before 
and one behind, the top of the former reaching to 
the feet of what appeared to be the corpse. Two 
men mounted and placed a long strip of linen (not 
a large cloth like that in Rubens's picture) across 
the chest and under the arms of the body, the 
ends being drawn up behind and allowed to fall 



8 % The Ober-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 

to the ground over the arms of the Cross, so as to 
supply a fulcrum to the man who was holding on 
from behind. As the last nail was drawn out from 
between the fingers, this man released his hold of 
the cloth, and the arms, head, and upper part of 
the body dropped gently over the shoulders of the 
man in front, who thus slowly descended with his 
burden to the ground. Let any one consider how 
he would feel going down a ladder with a heavy 
body over his shoulders, and he will have some 
idea of the "art concealing art" with which this 
was done, and with such seeming ease. 

If one were to judge the Play by a high standard 
of taste, one might wish that it ended with the 
Crucifixion, for after that it deals with facts be- 
longing to an order of ideas and relations which 
have no counterpart in human experience, and 
which therefore cannot be represented in human 
action. But it must be borne in mind that this 
striking religious drama is intended for the edifica- 
tion of a simple people who have warm hearts and 
lively imaginations, but are not much given to 



The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 83 

abstract reasoning ; and we ought to regard the 
question from their point of view, and not from the 
point of view of critical tourists. The Play, as it 
stands, is a marvellously impressive and living 
picture of man's Fall and mysterious Redemption, 
and the picture would be incomplete and the 
lesson but half finished, if the Resurrection and 
Ascension were left out. 

My part, however, is to chronicle facts, not to 
discuss them, and I shall therefore relate in a few 
words what followed the scene of the Crucifixion 
and Burial. Two tableaux succeed each other, 
one representing a storm-tossed ship with the tail 
of a whale disappearing under the waves near it, 
and on a distant shore Jonah is seen standing 
after having been disgorged out of the dis- 
tended jaws of the whale. The other tableau 
represents the Egyptian host struggling in 
the avenging waves of the Red Sea. This is 
followed by the various incidents of the Resur- 
rection — the alarming earthquake, the confusion of 
the Roman guard, the supernatural opening of the 

F 2 



84 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

sepulchre, the various visits of the Disciples and 
women to the empty grave, the different appear- 
ances of Christ, the meeting in Galilee, and the 
final ascent from Olivet, with the apparition of 
the two Angels. The chorus now appear on the 
stage for the last time, and sing a jubilant song of 
triumph. And as they retire the audience, giving 
vent at last to their long-suppressed emotions, 
applaud heartily and for the first time. 

So ended the most remarkable relic still sur- 
viving of the old religious drama. I went to see 
it with very mixed feelings. From what I had 
heard and read, I was prepared for a striking 
exhibition, but also half prepared for some rude 
shocks to one's natural sense of religious propriety. 
So impossible did it seem to represent on a public 
stage and in a worthy manner the sublime story 
of Gethsemane and Calvary. Well, I have seen 
it, and I shall go home with the conviction that 
the thing is not impossible where a vivid faith and 
an intense devotion are combined in the repre- 
sentation. I have never seen so affecting a spec- 



The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 8$ 

tacle, or one more calculated to draw out the best 
and purest feelings of the heart. It is, of course, 
impossible to answer for the feelings of others ; but 
I can say for myself, and for several other spec- 
tators of the Play whom I have consulted, that 
there was nothing from the beginning to the end 
that need shock the most sensitive religious instinct. 
We are too apt to forget that the deepest and 
the most lasting impressions are generally those 
which reach the mind through the eyes. A good 
portrait of an absent friend gives a far better idea 
of him than the most brilliant verbal description ; 
and this is true in a special degree of minds not 
accustomed to trains of reasoning. By means of 
images imprinted on the eye, their minds will grasp 
in a few hours a whole series of facts which it 
would take months, perhaps years, to convey to 
the understanding without the aid of pictorial 
representation ; and even then the impression will 
not be half so real or so enduring as that which 
passes through the avenues of the senses. Here 
in a single day the history and destiny of the 



86 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

human race were engraved on the minds and 
hearts of some thousands of persons in a way they 
are never likely to forget. I do not say, though 
I think it highly probable, that the same effect 
could not be produced by means of written or oral 
instruction ; but I say, without hesitation, that it 
could not be produced for years. I am not ashamed 
to confess, for my own part, that I have realized 
here, with a vividness I never felt before, the mar- 
vellous unity which binds together the Old Testa- 
ment and the New, so that a series of compositions 
separated from each other by every circumstance 
of time and place and authorship are instinctively 
felt to be one book, teaching one high morality, 
telling the same tale of sorrowful hope, and point- 
ing to one central mysterious Figure, in whom type 
and psalm and sacrifice find their meet accomplish- 
ment. And certainly, if one tests the Play by the 
evidence of its fruits, the verdict must be in its 
favour. The people of Ober-Ammergau are re- 
markable for their honesty, their intelligence, and 
their religious earnestness. The Play is acted at 



The Obcr-Ammcrgan Passion Play. 87 

sufficiently long intervals to prevent that familiarity 
which is apt to breed contempt, and at sufficiently 
short intervals to renew the impression and carry it 
on in an unbroken series of instruction. There is 
nothing in the Play which could offend the most 
rigid Protestantism. Even the single legend which 
it sanctions is deprived of its miraculous element 
— namely, the impression of Christ's face on the 
handkerchief of Veronica. The effect on the in- 
dividual actors, too, appears to be excellent, and 
pre-eminently so in the case of him who acts the 
part of Christ. He is a wood-carver by trade, and 
his bearing is modest, gentle, and deeply devo- 
tional. He has no objection to converse with 
strangers on the subject of the Play ; and to an 
inquiry whether he did not feel much fatigued after 
his physical and moral exertion during the day, 
he answered, quickly, "Ah, but the honour of it !" 
All the actors, male and female, are selected with 
strict reference to character, and care is taken to 
assign the bad characters in the Play to persons of 
thorough respectability, so that no suspicion of a 



88 The Ober-Ammergaii Passion Play, 

slight can be felt. Tobias Flunger, who acts the 
part of Pilate this year, played the part of Christ 
in 1850. He is a modeller and drawing-master, 
and his daughter Franziska plays the part of St. 
Mary. Josepha, his other daughter, a strikingly 
handsome girl, is the principal contralto in the 
chorus. On the whole, the women's acting is not 
so good as the men's, but they labour under the 
great disadvantage of having to strain their voices 
in order to make themselves heard across the great 
distance which separates them from the back of 
the auditorium. Altogether between 500 and 600 
actors take part in the Play. On the Monday in 
Whitsun week the audience amounted to quite 
6000, and there was a second representation on 
the following day, for those (also amounting to 
thousands) who could not find room the first day. 



APPENDIX 

GIVING A CONTINUOUS DESCRIPTION OF 

THE SCENES AND TABLEAUX OF THE PLAY 

IN THE ORDER IN WHICH THEY TAKE PLACE. 



Introductory Scene. 

The Choryphaeus announces the opening of the 
drama, and immediately after the Chorus sings, 
" Prostrate yourselves in holy awe, generation 
bowed down by the curse of God," &c. 

While singing the two last verses the Chorus 
separate in the middle, fall back to the right and 
left, and by doing so allow the spectators a full 
view of the middle theatre. The curtain rises, and 
discloses two pictures, Adam and Eve driven out 
of Paradise, on the one side; on the other, Abraham 
going to offer up Isaac, who is lying bound on 
the altar. In the background is a ram in a 
thicket. 

During the exhibition of this tableau the Chorus 
sing, " Behold, as Isaac once, yonder on Moriah, 
so will the beloved Son Himself fall in Golgotha, 



The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 91 

as a great sacrifice to God to pay the sinner's 
debt." 

The curtain falls. The chorus, reassuming their 
former position, sing on, "Merciful God, Thou 
givest Thy only begotten Son unto death, to ran- 
som sinners, who shamefully despised Thy com- 
mandments, and to take the curse from them." 

The curtain rises again. In a misty back- 
ground is seen a high cross, and praying figures 
before it. The chorus are silent, and sink upon 
their knees ; meanwhile children's voices (behind 
the scenes) are heard singing the following : — 

" Eternal One ! listen to the stammering 
voices of Thy children. For a child can only 
stammer," &c. 

This sung, the chorus part, and retire to right 
and left behind the scenes. 

Such is the introductory scene. 

First Scene. 
The chorus have scarcely left the front of the 
stage when the distant cry of Hosannah is heard, 



92 The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 

joyously heralding the Saviour. The curtain rises. 
The middle stage, in its whole length, is open to 
view, so that the sunny mountain landscape behind 
forms the background. Children carrying branches 
of palm-trees emerge from the side streets. Men 
and women swell the throng. The Saviour ap- 
pears, clad in a dress of lilac, with a dark red 
robe over it. His disciples are almost all clothed 
poorly. In moving on, the people leading the 
procession are for some moments lost to view 
behind the scenes on the middle stage, but re- 
appear in one of the by-streets, and proceed 
through the arch across the front stage, thus 
giving the whole of the train a double motion, 
which has an exceedingly rich and lively effect, 
and apparently magnifying the multitude. The 
hymn of welcome which follows, sung by the 
people, is set to beautiful music. 

While the rejoicing people assemble in groups 
on the middle stage, a number of high priests and 
scribes approach through the streets opposite. 
The cleansing of the Temple follows. Some amuse- 



The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 93 

ment is caused at the consternation of the profane 
traffickers as they see their liberated lambs and 
doves escape, and their money upset. The priests 
try to instigate the people against Him. But He 
rebukes their hypocrisy, and encourages the mul- 
titude to fortitude and perseverance. The priests 
mutter vengeance, and Christ takes leave of the 
people and returns to Bethany. 

Second Scene. 

The chorus appear again on the front stage. 
The choryphaeus begins by observing how the 
jealousy of the chief priests and Pharisees has its 
prefigurement in the Old Testament, in the con- 
duct of Joseph's brethren. The song that follows 
enlarges on this theme. 

"Ha! are the villains gone ? Is the odious 
form unveiled, and in broad light ? The patch 
of feigned virtue is torn from the coat of sin. 
Scourged by a stinging conscieiicer (Remark on the 
spiritual turn here given to the scourging in the 
Temple.) " Let us — thus they wildly cry — think 



94 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

\ 
on revenge, and begin the plot concerted long 

ago." 

The curtain rises. The pit in Dothan is shown, 
into which Joseph was cast by his brothers. Two of 
them are looking down into it, while the others are., 
standing in different attitudes. The chorus, mean- 
while, sings, "Reveal, O God, to us the mystery" 
(namely, of the apparent triumph of wrong-doing). 
The song connects throughout the plot against 
Joseph and that against Christ. 

The curtain falls, but the chorus continue in 
impassioned strain to invoke vengeance on the evil 
doers. Then the chorus pass into a softer mood, 
recognizing that vengeance belongs to God, and 
sing a song of resignation and humility before the 
mystery of the Incarnation. 

The curtain rises. The chief priests are in coun- 
cil — Annas and Caiaphas presiding, seated in chairs 
raised above the others. At their side, but lower 
down, sit two rabbis, or clerks of the high priests, and 
to the right and left the rest of the Council. Annas 
is dressed in white, Caiaphas in red ; and both 



The Ober-Amviergau Passion Play. 95 

have high gold-embroidered tiaras on their heads. 
Annas is calm and astute ; Caiaphas passionate 
and boisterous. The latter addresses to the assem- 
bly a passionate invective against Jesus as the 
destroyer of their religious polity and of their 
nation. But there is a difficulty in apprehending 
Jesus. Two members of the Council thereupon leave 
the assembly, and then return accompanied by a 
crowd of fanatic and greedy Jews, who are ready to 
betray Him for a bribe. While they are debating 
the point, one of the company tells them that he 
knows one of Christ's disciples, who, he thinks, may 
be induced to betray his Master. Annas closes the 
meeting here, saying, " Fathers, and friends, in spite 
of my old age, I could leap for joy. I feel my 
heart once more warmed and cheered. I seem to 
awake, strengthened by sweet sleep. Let us go, 
and do what we have determined on. Praise to 
our fathers, Moses, Isaac, and Jacob." The cur- 
tain then falls. 



96 The Obcr-Ammergan Passion Play. 

Third Scene. 
1. 
The chorus enter, and sing a hymn of praise for 
the voluntary sacrifice of Jesus. 

The tableaux are : young Tobias taking leave of 
his parents ; and the disconsolate Spouse in the 
Canticles. 

II. 
Christ, with His disciples, appears in the streets 
of Bethany, on His last visit to His friends in that 
village. He tells them of His approaching death, 
but comforts them with the promise of His coming 
to them again. Peter remonstrates against "this 
parting," which, he says, "is much against his mind." 
Jesus warns Judas. At the close of these speeches 
they have arrived at the house of Simon the Pha- 
risee, whose family come out to meet Jesus, and to 
invite Him in. Christ accepts. A feast is served. 
A good deal of conversation ensues between Christ 
and His disciples, about His coming Passion. 
Martha shows herself an untiring hostess (the intro- 



The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 97 

duction of Martha here is a poetical licence). Mary 
Magdalene enters in a blue dress, over which is a 
yellow mantle. She washes His feet, &c. Judas 
protests against the waste. 

Jesus rises, and leaves. His disciples warn Him 
against returning to Jerusalem. While He is bless- 
ing those from whom He is parting, His mother, 
coming from the other side, appears with her com- 
panions. She is dressed in a red garment, with pale- 
blue mantle, her head nearly concealed by a veil. 
She too dissuades Him from going to Jerusalem. 
Also Lazarus and his relations join in the dissua- 
sion ; but Christ persists, gently telling them they 
do not yet understand the matter. His mother 
recovers her resignation, and says at last, "As 
Thou pleasest, my Son." 

Fourth Scene. 

1. 

The chorus appear again, and the choryphseus 
speaks some introductory words, explaining how 
Jesus desired earnestly to save Jerusalem, but she 



98 The Ober-Ammergau Passiofi Play. 

would not. The chorus then address a warning to 
Jerusalem, in a beautiful song. 

The curtain rises. Tableau : Queen Vashti, &c. ; 
and the chorus explain this type in song. 

The curtain falls. The chorus take up their usual 
position and sing again, in a grave and touching 
melody, a warning invocation to Jerusalem. 

This tableau is effective. To the right Ahashu- 
erus thrusts Vashti down the steps. To the left of 
the King stands Esther. A crowd of men and 
women surround the throne. 

II. 

Christ appears with His disciples on His way to 
Jerusalem. Judas, intent on evil, lags behind. 
Then follows Christ's conversation about the tri- 
bulation coming on Jerusalem. He sends Peter 
and John to prepare the Passover. Jesus alluding 
to His coming sufferings, Judas steps forward, and 
harps again on the waste of the 300 pence, and 
asks whether Christ does not intend to make pro- 
vision for His disciples before leaving them. Jesus 



The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 99 

warns him. Judas stays behind. While he is 
dallying with his thoughts, one of the Jews driven 
out of the Temple comes and tempts him, &c. 

Fifth Scene. 
1. 

The chorus announce that the ensuing tableau is 
to show that the Lord, in giving manna to the 
people in the desert, and sending grapes from 
Canaan, shadowed the Blessed Sacrament. 

The curtain rises. The chorus, pointing to the 
tableau, sing on. 

The curtain falls, and the chorus interpret how 
the Blessed Sacrament preserves from real death, 
whereas the manna did not. 

Second tableau : Cluster of grapes from 
Eschol. The chorus sing the interpretation of this 
also. 

II. 

The curtain rises again, and the two disciples sent 
to prepare the Passover are seen in the streets of 
Jerusalem, where they meet the " man bearing a 



ioo The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

pitcher." He takes them to his master. The 
supper follows. After supper follows the strife as 
to which of them should be greatest, &c. Christ 
rebukes, and gives a lesson of humility by washing 
their feet. He concludes with the promise of 
twelve thrones. After this takes place the institu- 
tion of the Last Supper. 

Sixth Scene, 
i. 

Tableau : Sons of Jacob selling Joseph. The 
chorus explain the reference to Judas selling his Lord. 

The curtain rises. Tableau : Joseph sold by his 
brothers, who, in picturesque shepherd's costume, are 
greedily counting the money. In the background 
the Ishmaelite merchants are seen standing by their 
camels. The chorus, pointing to the picture, sing a 
song on the wickedness of Joseph's brethren selling 
their own flesh and blood for money, and the still 
greater wickedness of Judas selling his Master for 
gain. 



The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passion Play. 101 

II. 
The curtain rises. The Sanhedrim are waiting 
for Judas, and are meanwhile surpassing each other 
in abuse of Christ. Only Nicodemus and Joseph 
of Arimathea protest, and leave the Council in 
indignation, and declare for Christ, for which 
Caiaphas declares them no longer worthy of being 
members of the Council. Judas appears. He has 
the purse, as bearer of the bag ; but it is empty, 
and so he is disappointed. A bargain begins. 
. There is some chaffering over the price. He at 
last agrees, and arranges his plan with them to take 
Jesus. The Council, however, do not trust Judas, 
and appoint one of their members to keep him in 
sight. 

Seventh Scene. 
i. 
Three tableaux, (i) Adam earning his bread by 
the sweat of his brow, foreshadowing the bloody 
sweat of Christ. Adam holds a spade in one hand, 
and with the other wipes the sweat off his brow. 
Behind him are two children tearing up and carry- 



io2 The Ober-AmmergaiL Passion Play. 

ing away thorns and thistles. To the right stands 
Eve, with a baby in her arms, while another child, 
holding an apple in its hand, clings close to her. 
Two more children are playing with a lamb. The 
chorus explain the tableau. 

(2) Second tableau : Joab slays Amasa. The 
chorus sing a beautiful explanatory song. 

(3) Third tableau : Samson betrayed by Delilah; 
bound with fetters by the Philistines, who have put 
out his eyes. He struggles in vain against his 
enemies, his strength having departed. Delilah 
stands in the foreground, pointing with one hand 
to her betrayed lover, and holding in the other his 
shorn locks. The chorus explain in song the con- 
nexion of the tableau with Christ bound by the 
Jews. 

II. 
The curtain rises, and discloses the Mount of 
Olives. Jesus arrives, in conversation with His 
disciples ; takes Peter, James, and John apart, 
and endures the agony. The crowd, headed by 
Judas, comes to take Him, &c. 



The Obcr-Ammcrgau Passio?i Play. 103 

Eighth Scene. 

1. 

The chorus appear, and sing, retrospectively, a 
song on the agony in Gethsemane. 

The curtain rises. Tableau : Micaiah smitten in 
the scene before Ahab. The chorus sing, explain- 
ing how liars, hypocrites, and flatterers are crowned 
with roses and laurels ; while truth, which never 
flatters, goes to the wall. 



Annas appears on his balcony, waiting for the 
captive Jesus. Seeing Judas, he exclaims, Thy 
name shall ever live in our annals. But Judas 
begins to show signs of uneasiness, and shudders 
at what he has done. Jesus is led before the bal- 
cony, and the trial begins. By order of Annas, He 
is led up to the balcony. After being smitten, and 
answering meekly, He is led to Caiaphas. Now 
Peter and John are seen far down the street fol- 
lowing their Master timidly, especially Peter. 



104 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

Ninth Scene. 

i. 

(i) Tableau : Naboth kneeling and being stoned 
by order of Jezebel. The chorus explain the 
type. 

(2) Tableau : Job sitting in the courtyard on a heap 
of dust. On one side are his friends, looking scornful ; 
on the other is his wife, with a sinister smile on her 
face. The chorus explain its reference to the 
" Ecce Homo," despised and rejected of men. 

II. 

Jesus before Caiaphas. Dispute as to whether 
Jesus said, " Destroy this temple," &c. 

Jesus is then led to the judgment-hall-. This 
is the scene of Peter's denial. 

Tenth Scene. 

1. 
Tableau : Cain driven from among men by his 
guilty conscience ; type of Judas, as the chorus 
explain. 



The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 105 



The remorse of Judas, now showing itself, pre- 
sents a contrast to the suffering innocence of Christ. 
Judas comes alone, and resolves, in a soliloquy, to 
throw the money at the feet of the Council, and 
declare himself free of the great crime. He is 
tortured at the thought that possibly his doing so 
may not save Christ, though He did make Himself 
invisible once before. Having finished this soliloquy 
he retires. Jesus appears, pushed on by the guards. 
The Council sentence Him to death. Judas rushes 
in, but too late. His reception by the Council, and 
his despair. The chief priests are anxious to hurry 
the execution before the Passover, and go to Pilate 
for that purpose. Pilate's porter scornfully receives 
them with the remark, " O cunning rascals ! that 
strain out gnats and swallow camels." 

The curtain of the middle stage now rises, and a 
wood is seen. Judas appears and prepares to hang 
himself. His great torment is the thought that 
though his Master, whose tenderness he recalls, may 



io6 The Ober-Ammergaa Passion Play. 

forgive him, he cannot bear to face Him again 
after his ingratitude. 

Eleventh Scene. 
i. 
Tableau : Daniel accused before Darius, typical, 
as the chorus explain, of Jesus accused before Pilate. 

II. 
Christ once more brought before Pilate. Caiaphas 
adjures Him to tell them if He is Christ. He 
answers in the words of the Gospel, and the high 
priest answers in the same. He is then accused 
before Pilate as a blasphemer against the law of 
Moses, and a rebel against Caesar. Pilate examines 
Him, and, getting perplexed, hopes to get rid 
of the difficulty by sending Him to Herod. 

Twelfth Scene. 

i. 

Tableau : King Hanun insults David's mes- 
sengers, typical of Herod mocking Christ, as the 
chorus explain. 



The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 107 

II. 
Scene before Herod, who asks Christ to work a 
miracle. " Interpret the dream I had last night. 
Work a miracle. Raise yourself from the ground. 
Transform that roll of parchment, containing your 
sentence of death, into a serpent. Thou wilt not ? 
Thou canst not !" In disappointed rage, he enacts 
the part assigned him in the Gospel. 

Thirteenth Scene. 
1. 

(1) Tableau : Sons of Jacob trying to deceive 
their father by showing him Joseph's coat stained 
with blood. Jacob is overpowered with grief, and is 
seen surrounded by sympathetic men and women : 
typical of the scourging of Christ, through jealousy 
of His brethren, as explained by the chorus. 

(2) Tableau : Isaac kneeling on the altar. 
Abraham stands by the side of the altar, holding 
the ram caught in the thicket by the horns. This 
is explained by the chorus to represent Christ 
being crowned with thorns. 



io8 The Ober-Ammergaa Passion Play. 

II. 
Jesus is taken back to Pilate, who examines 
Him once more. The scene of the Gospel is gone 
through. The scourging takes place. On the 
curtain rising, the last blows are seen to fall on the 
Saviour, who is tied to a pillar. A scarlet robe is 
put on Him, and a reed is placed in His hand, and 
He is set on a stool by way of throne. He is 
reviled, and pushed off the stool. He is cruelly 
entreated, and the curtain falls amidst the blas- 
phemy of the crowd. 

Fourteenth Scene. 
i. 

The chorus now relieve the overwrought feelings 
of the audience. After some reference to the 
sufferings just gone through by Christ, they sing 
the glories of Joseph in Egypt. Joseph is seen in 
procession as described in Genesis. 

(2) Second tableau (Leviticus xvi.) : The two 
goats to bear away the sins of the people. One 
goat is sent into the desert as scapegoat, the other 



TJie Obcr-Ammergan Passion Play. 109 

is sacrificed. The chorus interpret this tableau as 
referring to Jesus and Barabbas — the former sacri- 
ficed for the sins of the people, while the other 
was allowed to go free. 

Here a duet takes place between the chorus on 
the front stage and the people behind the scenes, 
the former pleading for injured innocence, the latter 
howling for the blood of Jesus. 

II. 
The curtain rises. A tumult in the streets. Pilate, 
splendidly arrayed, again appears, and pleads for 
Jesus. He orders Barabbas to be brought and 
placed by the side of Christ, with a view to ex- 
citing their compassion. They cry, " Crucify Him." 
Pilate's wife here sends a warning message. But at 
last Pilate passes sentence of death. 

Fifteenth Scene. 

1. 
Three tableaux — : 
(1) Isaac carrying wood to Moriah, and Abraham 



no The Obcr-Ammergau Passion Play. 

by his side. The chorus sing a song preparing the 
people's minds for the Crucifixion scene. 

(2) Moses in the desert, putting a brazen serpent 
on a pole. The chorus interpret the type as fore- 
shadowing the raising of the Son of Man on the 
Cross. 

(3) The serpent is again shown on the pole : 
Moses standing near, and pointing towards it. 
The Israelites, bitten by serpents, are in agony, and 
are healed by gazing on the brazen serpent. The 
chorus interpret this as referring to the healing 
power of the Cross of Christ. 

II. 

Jesus appears bearing His cross. A Roman 
centurion, on horseback, leads the procession, and 
carries the standard of the Roman cohort, bearing 
the inscription, " Senatus populus Romanus." Jesus 
follows, bearing His cross, and after Him the two 
thieves bearing theirs. By-and-by the Madonna 
appears, supported by John and the Magdalene. 

After this scene the chorus reappear, dressed all 



The Obcr- A mmergan Passion Play. 1 1 1 

in black. The choryphaeus addresses the audience 
in a long recitative. Sounds of wailing behind the 
curtain are heard. 

Sixteenth Scene. 
Crucifixion scene. 

Seventeenth Scene, 
i. 
The chorus appear again in their gay attire, and 
sing a beautiful Resurrection hymn. 
Two tableaux : — 
(i) Jonah. 

(2) Passage of the Red Sea. 
The chorus sing a song of triumph. 
The curtain rises. A lonely sepulchre is seen 
guarded by soldiers. Presently an angel appears, 
and rolls the stone from the sepulchre. Then fol- 
lows an earthquake, and the Resurrection takes 
place. Afterwards women approach the grave. 
An angel appears to them. Pharisees also come 



ii2 The Ober-Ammergau Passion Play. 

with the guards, and bribe them. Christ appears 
to Mary Magdalene. 

The chorus sing a triumphant Hallelujah. 

Eighteenth Scene. 

Allegorical scene. Christ appears in glory ; His 
wounds resplendent ; while Paganism and Judaism, 
priests and Jews, Pilate and soldiers, and all His 
enemies, are prostrate before Him. Then the 
chorus sing their last song, hymning the praises 
of the Conqueror over death. 



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